£100 Graphics Card

[gangstarr]

Hey guys,

I haven't really used my pc much other than for watching videos and uni work for the past few years and was looking to upgrade my graphics card. I've got £100 to spend, is there anything available that will be able to play new(ish) games nicely on it? Preferably something that doesn't sound like a hoover while its running aswell as I run my projector through the computer too.

cheers

[Fartingbob]

For the card itself, Youve got the nVidia 9600GT at around £100-110. Very good card, will play everything at a high res and detail (except maybe crysis), uses less power than previous generation (cheaper to run, easier to cool).
Not sure how loud the stock coolers are, but it shouldnt be too bad.
On the ATI side you have the HD3850, a little cheaper than the 9600 but definitely not as powerful in gaming.

[gangstarr]

cheers for the advice bob. Out of theses ones

http://www.ebuyer.com/cat/Graphics-Card ... e-9-Series

which would you say is the best in my price range? theres one for only £92 which if it's not much different than the others I would just get but if there's a great difference i'd rather pay abit more. The one at the top of the page looks interesting but the thing i'm confused about is that cheaper ones have more memory - sorry if i'm being stupid - really out o touch with technology these days!

[loftie]

For a bit more power 8800GT 512mb at £109
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showprodu ... ubcat=1008
it should be a bit more powerful than the 9600gt, but will consume more power - if that bothers you - it might be slightly noisier, but not really sure, one of the reviews says it's quiet. But ignore all the 256MB versions, they arent very good.

[Fartingbob]

The stock 8800GT cooler is quite loud, if you go for one of the more expensive ones that come with a different cooler then you will find its probably quieter.
Not sure why that £92 is so much cheaper than the others, its a reference design (not overclocked, same basic fan), but will perform as good as the others. I always recommend going for a non-overclocked card, its easy to overclock it yourself within windows if you really need those last few FPS and it saves a fair bit of money.

[tehdoomsayer]

i'm not sure the conversion rate, but there's an 8800gt with a really nice zalman cooler for 200 USD. i have this card and it's quiet. i've played about every new game to come out recently including assassin's creed with all settings max, and it's quiet and cool. runs about 40-50 Celsius with a full load, hottest i've ever seen it is 58 when rendering in Maya. sorry i'm not from the UK so i can't point out any relevant websites for the product but i do have a newegg address.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814127329

hope this helps.

[gangstarr]

Hey guys, thats great thanks alot.

I just looked at the card you suggested tehdoomsayer and I can pick it up here for about £130 which to be honest is pretty good if it is powerful and quiet. (My projector can be loud enough at times and I think the neighbours would start complaining if I had to crank the volume up even more to hear my films properly!)

Only thing I noticed is that it says that the card is PCI- Express 2.0. I am so out of the loop that this didn't exist (I think) when I was really into computers a few years back. My current set up is only pci-express - I take it this is going to limit my options? New parts all round going to be required if I want to get a decent gaming rig?

Cheers guys, you're as helpful as always

[Fartingbob]

PCIE2.0 cards are completely compatible with PCIE 1, so dont worry. Its only if you have a PCIE2.0 compatible board you see a (very slight) improvement in games (although this will make much more of a difference in a few years when games are more demanding).

[loftie]

Thanks Fartingbob for the info about the fan noise, I knew it was louder than the 9600, but wasnt sure how much more! It's only £92 without VAT, so as far as i can tell, it's about right for a low priced stock 8800gt, they seem to be going down in price now the 9000 series is coming out. Anyway, heres a review from tomshardware about the 9600gt http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/nvidia-geforce-9600-gt,1780.html
They compare the card to the 8800gt both 256mb and 512mb versions, as well as the HD3870 and HD3850, and it's got info on noise and power consumption. Either card should do you fine thought. Hope all this helps!

[lordfoul]

Here's the spread.

http://arstechnica.com/reviews/hardware ... view.ars/2

[HEAT84]

If its true that game makers are shying away from the PC platform because of piracy concerns and other reasons, it doesn't seem to make sense to buy the latest and greatest card if there won't be games to maximize its capabilities.

I really hope it isn't true because I'm eagerly awaiting GTA4 (which unlike the previous GTA's I intend to pay for). The console version was just released and if R* follows the pattern of the previous GTA's, the PC version will be released in October. But unlike the previous GTA's, they've said nothing about a PC version.

[lordfoul]

No offense but thats nuck'n futs! If anyone wants me to elaborate I'd freely tell you why.

[Psycho Ced]

Ok, please elaborate.

[lordfoul]

Good god Psyco Ced I was hoping to not have to put my thoughts in order; it hurts to do so on a weekend. Let's not forget that most development for platform gaming occurs on PC's running windows to begin with; except for some of the cut scene and development art of course. The vast majority of game development tools are windows based and though many games hit the platforms before PC that is do to marketing and the bar for PC games being set so high amongst developers to begin with. Console games have a lower and defined set bar to develop for and of course a decent market to sell to, while PCs allow for greater innovation and the users demand greater innovation to begin with. The natural cycle is to develop for the more rudimentary and later enhance the game for the PC market; both a good development régime and a great development strategy. The lesser and more populous demands of Console gamers get met and the resulting PC gaming envy being met with mature games for those die hard PC gamers. The perfect sales cycle really. No gaming software production company codes to a platform that is 2 years old as it's default.

[Psycho Ced]

You're a victim of your own device. I wouldn't have asked if I didn't think I'd get an answer worth reading.

[gangstarr]

think i'll probably go for this one

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/142228/sh ... ct_reviews

it has got alot of good reviews and is quiet so should suit my needs

Thanks for the advice guys